The actors will soon start shooting for the Spanish project

Actor Nandita Das, who will be seen with husband Subodh Maskara in upcoming Spanish film Traces of Sandalwood, will start shooting in a month’s time. The film will be shot here and in Barcelona.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of Mumbai Film Mart at the 15th Mumbai Film Festival (MFF), which endeavors to find completed and under-production Indian films potential international buyers, Nandita said, “I will be going to Barcelona in a month from now to start shooting for my film”.

“This film is called ‘Traces of Sandalwood’. It’s an all women crew and that’s going to have an interesting dynamics because it’s wonderful to see a women cinematographer and women art director behind the camera. It will be shot in Barcelona and Mumbai,” added Nandita, who has more than 30 films to her credit.

Nandita, who has directed critically acclaimed Firaaq, believes film festivals create more space for independent films. “I have done over 30 films and most of them have been in the independent space. I don’t have DVDs of most of the films because many of them couldn’t be released. Many of the independent films suffered the most because of not having the skills or platform to release their films,” added Nandita.

“While I don’t understand the market world still because even I had to face similar challenges for my film Firaaq. It’s wonderful that film festivals are presenting an opportunity for several independent films. More the number of festivals, merrier it is for young filmmakers as well audiences,” she said.

Nandita was invited as a special guest to support MFF, which will continue till Sunday. Six Indian films namely Hunterrrrr, The Unseen Sequence, Haraamkhor, Placebo, Illai and Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyu Aata Hai are being exhibited through an initiative called India Project Room, a subsidiary of MFF.

The renowned film fest begins October 17 and will go on till October 24, 2013

With over 200 films across nine sections from over 65 countries and an impressive lineup of academic events – the 15th Mumbai Film Festival (MFF) starting Thursday promises to not just entertain movie aficionados but celebrates the true spirit of cinema as well.

Critically acclaimed Hollywood fictional-drama The Butler by Lee Daniels will open the eight-day fest, which is being organised by the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI). Bill Condon’s dramatic-thriller The Fifth Estate will bring the curtains down on the fest October 24.

From Academy Award-nominated Australian drama The Rocket to French drama The Past to critically acclaimed classics such as Z and much more, the fest this year will entertain movie buffs with handpicked films from across the world.

In addition to competition sections such as the International Competition, Celebrate Age and Dimensions Mumbai, the fest will introduce new initiatives such as Filmy Room and Indian Project Room as part of Mumbai Film Mart.

“This year’s biggest attraction will be the Mumbai Film Mart, which aims to support blossoming films and filmmakers by bringing them under one roof. It will be a great networking opportunity as we are expecting delegates from French, Spanish, Taiwan and even Canadian industries,” said Srinivasan Narayanan, director, Mumbai Film Festival.

“Our new initiatives such as India Project Room will help more international festival programmers and buyers to easily access quality Indian films thereby opening up more visibility and markets for Indian cinema. In essence, it will help aspiring filmmakers find co-producers or finishing funds for their films,” he added.

Narayanan added that the three pillars of the fest this year will be – “creative, academic events and business of cinema”.

With eminent film personalities such as director Bruce Beresford, French actor Nathalie Baye, Japanese actor-director Masato Harada and Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, along with acclaimed Indian actor Konkona Sen Sharma as jury members on competition segments such as International Competition, India Gold 2013 and Dimensions Mumbai, the fest hopes to keep the competitiveness spirit alive amongst filmmakers with a total prize money worth US$220,000.

While the International Competition section will feature works of first time filmmakers, India Gold 2013 will present the opportunity for 12 Indian filmmakers to showcase their talent.

Conceived by Jaya Bachchan, Dimensions Mumbai is a platform for the creative minds of Mumbai under the age of 25 to put to test their filmmaking skills on any aspect of the city. It has received over 100 entries.

In accordance to the celebration of true spirit of cinema, the fest will throw spotlight on French and Cambodian cinema, while focusing on the blossoming film movement in Afghanistan.

For their contribution to world cinema, French filmmaker Costa-Gavras along with Indian actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan will be conferred with lifetime achievement awards here.

Another highlight of the fest will be the screening of several classics such as The Floorwalker, Blackmail and The King Comedy under Restored Classics section, to create awareness about restoring of films.

The festival will also pay homage to late Indian filmmakers Yash Chopra, Rituparno Ghosh and actor Pran. This year, festival organisers hope to have an increase in the footfalls vis-a-vis last year.

“While we had 4,500 odd film enthusiasts in participation last year, this time we hope to cross 6,000. This festival is for the youngsters of this country, and I hope to see the auditoriums filled with as many youngsters as possible,” added Narayanan.

An additional highlight of the event will be an activity called Mumbai Young Critics, which will groom young college students of Mumbai on critiquing. Noted German film critic Daniel Kothenschulte will take the class.

Other activities include panel discussion by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, masterclasses by filmmaker Bruce Beresford, editor Jill Billcock and special question and answer session with Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi and French filmmaker Leos Carax.